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The Story of Warren Buffett – From Zero to Billionaire

This is a story of a boy born into a middle-class family who started investing with a few thousand dollars to becoming the world’s richest investor today. Just imagine earning more than US$500 million MONTHLY passive income! This is Warren Buffett.

He bought his first stock in 1941 when he was 11 years old.

Buffett owns relatively few stocks. But those he owns, he tries to hold on “forever”. His holding company Berkshire Hathaway consists of stocks from less than 50 companies, including Coca-cola, Wells Fargo, American Express, Johnson & Johnson and Walmart.

In 2013, Buffett made on average $37 million per DAY — that’s more than what Jennifer Lawrence made the entire year.

99% of Buffett’s wealth was earned after his 50th birthday. Buffett is worth $63 billion today, but on his 50th birthday, he was worth just $300 million, according to The Motley Fool. That means he made $62.7 billion, or 99 percent, of his wealth in the years since. This is the power of compounding interest!

He may be the richest investor in the world, but he had he did his fair share of mistakes like his investment in Dexter Shoe Inc and Tesco.

He has donated more than US$25 billion to charities.

People are so fascinated with the legendary Buffett that they’ll spend millions of dollars to eat lunch with him. Buffett has been auctioning off a “power lunch” since 2000 at his charity event for GLIDE Foundation. One ‘winner’ reportedly paid US$5.25 million and got to bring up to seven people to dine with the steak-loving business magnate at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in Manhattan.

Here is a short version story of his life:

Warren Edward Buffett was born August 30th 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska. Even at an early age, Buffett discovered his math skills and interest in money matters as his father was a stockbroker and also a congressman of the United States of America. He helped in his father’s stock brokerage by writing down the stock prices on the board.

He made his first investment at 11 when he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred at $38 per share. When the stocks plummeted to $27, Buffett remained patient and sold them later at a small profit for $40. He later regretted his decision when the Cities Service Preferred shot to $200 per share, making him learn his first lesson of his life which is to always be patient when investing.

In 1950, Buffett earned a degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, after also studying at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School. After his rejection by Harvard Business School due to his young age, Buffett enrolled himself in Columbia University and graduating in the Master of Science in business in 1951 where he developed a close relationship with his professor. After his graduation, for 3 years he sold securities for Buffett-Falk & Company. He later worked under his guru, Graham, at Graham-Newman Corporation for the next 2 years.

He then worked at his father’s Omaha brokerage firm and in 1952, started a family with new wife, Susan Thompson.

At the age of 25, from 1956 to 1959, Buffett worked at Buffett Partner Limited with a starting capital base of $100,000 in his hometown Omaha, which he had formed using the techniques that he had acquired from Graham and became a millionaire.

In 1959 he dissolved this firm and he began buying stocks in a small textile manufacturing firm called Berkshire Hathaway. He changed the structure of the company, by changing the company’s financial framework. He advised to keep its textile business, even under the huge pressure, but also used the company as a holding company for other investments.

Over the years, Buffet went on a series of bargaining and buying various companies that include The Washington Post, GEICO, Coca-Cola, Disney, The Citigroup Global Markets Holdings, Gillette Company, and Graham Holdings Company. Moreover, the company also has shareholdings in Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble., IBM., American Express, Costco and General Motors.

Just imagine, the $1,000 invested in Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1964, when Buffett took over the company and shares cost just $19, would be worth about $11.6 million dollars today.

Today, Warren Buffett stands as the 3rd Billionaire of the World and 2nd Billionaire in the USA. He was named one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and became one of the most successful investors of all time. But, it’s Warren Buffett’s frugal personal philosophy and unparalleled track record that have made him an inspiration for generations.

One of his many famous quotes…

“If, when making a stock investment, you’re not considering holding it at least ten years, don’t waste more than ten minutes considering it.”

His advice to the young and aspiring generation:Invest in yourselves before investing in others and always to be kind in action and words. It is highly important to know your strengths and weaknesses and break the bad habits.

Anyways, now that you know more about this investment giant, would you like to know how real wealth is built in the stock market OR know how to spot stocks that grow in value over time?

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Thanks so much for visiting! As always, this blog is meant to provide general information and not financial advice. I’m not a financial professional – just a blogger 🙂 For more on that, see my disclaimer here.